Category Archives: Biology

Apparently a group of Dutch researchers are suggesting we should stop farming cattle and instead move onto farming bugs…

Scientists in the Netherlands have discovered that insects produce significantly less greenhouse gas per kilogram of meat than cattle or pigs. Their study, published in the online journal PLoS One, suggests that a move towards insect farming could result in a more sustainable – and affordable – form of meat production.

I know that people all over the world are more than happy to eat insects, but to be honest it’s not really my thing. I know it’s probably just a cultural bias, but it’s a cultural bias I like. I like steak… You aren’t going to get steak from a bug, unless it’s a really big bug… and even then…

I can see the logic behind this though and in a world where people aren’t as squeamish as I am there are probably a huge number of benefits, for one you can eat bugs whole, chitin and all, there are no bones and pesky internal organs that you have to clean out, so there is less waste, pretty much the whole bugs body it edible.

I do have one question which doesn’t seem to be addressed in the article, pound for pound they may produce less greenhouse gasses, but what is the comparative nutritional value of insect meat to bovine/mammalian meat? If I have to eat more bugs than I do cow then I’m going to be even less happy about it.

Also given the scientists reasoning for the reduction in emissions:

The scientists attributed the decrease in emissions to the insects’ more efficient use of food. Because they aren’t warm-blooded, what insects eat is aimed directly at body growth rather than maintaining a stable body temperature.

Are we not just as well eating reptiles, fish or shrimps (Which I guess are just water bugs)? They are all cold blooded too, and are slightly more aligned with what we are used to eating…

I immediately thought about a bleak future where all people ate was bugs because the environment couldn’t handle the pressure cattle farming had put on it, which made me think of the Futurama episode with the Buggalo, as pictured above.